Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

One Star for Ethics Reform

New York legislators proposed an ethics reform package last week that would definitely improve the miserable status quo in Albany. But the plan is not the full-fledged housecleaning necessary for a place that has gone too long without the slightest dusting of reform.

The reforms proposed by Senator John Sampson, the Democratic leader in the State Senate, and the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, would inevitably get the best-we-can-do-at-the-moment label. That’s not good enough. Here’s how the proposals stack up against the need for real reform:

OUTSIDE INCOME The proposal would mandate more disclosure, including requirements that lawmakers list income ranges to $1 million or more. That is a clear improvement, but there is a big hole: exemptions for the Legislature’s lawyers, including Mr. Silver, who would not be required to list clients. That is wrong. A lawmaker’s first obligation is to the public, not the clients.

The package does require lobbyists to disclose any business dealings with public officials, including legislators who are lawyers. Another section would explicitly ban the private use of public resources. Joseph Bruno, the former Republican leader who was convicted recently of two felony counts, was accused of running his private business out of his state offices.

Photo

THE FRAMEWORK Gov. David Paterson recently proposed a single independent ethics commission to oversee everybody in state government. It is a clean, straightforward approach, but the Legislature’s bill would set up three commissions. One would oversee lobbyists, another the governor and the executive branch. Both of those would operate independently. But the third commission, overseeing the Legislature, would be appointed by legislative leaders. That’s the sort of feeble oversight lawmakers enjoy now.

To some good-government advocates, the best thing in the package is a muscular new office that would have real powers to investigate complaints of ethical violations by legislators and to make complaints public. That seems to be an improvement.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE The proposed bill does not seek broad reforms in the state’s abysmal campaign finance system. But it would give the Board of Elections new clout by empowering it to investigate and fine lawmakers who violate the few campaign laws that do exist. Some legislators have failed for years to report campaign donations; the board can, at worst, fine them about $500 per failure. The new proposal would allow fines of up to $10,000 for repeated failures to file.

Even some lawmakers who support the legislative package acknowledge that some of Governor Paterson’s reform proposals are more thorough. His independent ethics commission is a better fix. His attack on Albany’s pay-to-play culture requires more disclosure of outside income (including lawyers), drastically reforms the campaign finance rules and establishes a financial board to oversee the state comptroller.

The lawmakers’ proposal is an important step forward for a Legislature that has become a national embarrassment. As State Senator Daniel Squadron, a New York City Democrat, put it, “It is better to have a good bill than a perfect press release.” But it is only the beginning, however useful, of what must be a sustained, cathartic effort to restore the public trust.

A version of this editorial appears in print on January 19, 2010, on Page A30 of the New York edition with the headline: One Star for Ethics Reform. Today's Paper|Subscribe